Jl. Patton et Mnf. Dasilva, A REVIEW OF THE SPINY MOUSE GENUS SCOLOMYS (RODENTIA, MURIDAE, SIGMODONTINAE) WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES FROM THE WESTERN AMAZONOF BRAZIL, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 108(2), 1995, pp. 319-337
Included within a collection of mammals assembled during a yearlong ve
rtebrate survey of the Rio Jurua in the western Amazon Basin of Brazil
is a series of specimens of a new spiny mouse of the genus Scolomys.
This genus is one of the more highly-localized and poorly-known murid
rodents of the neotropical forests. Prior to the collection reported h
ere, there were two recognized species known from a total of 15 specim
ens. One of these, S. melanops Anthony, 1924, is known only from three
closely spaced localities in eastern Ecuador; the second, S. ucayalen
sis Pacheco, 1991, is known from only one locality in north-central Pe
ru. We provide a revised diagnosis and description of the genus while
describing the third species, suggest phylogenetic affinities of the g
enus within the tribe Oryzomyini, and summarize aspects of the ecology
and life history of the new species.